Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I guess I must be the only one, judging by the forum/mailing list discussions. I have had knockoffs for close to 25 years, NEVER had one come loose. Matter of fact, I usually have a heck of a time getting them loose when need be.

I am not using wide sticky tires, nor am I autocrossing, which I realize is a different matter. Just wondering.

No, you are not the only one hammering! infact I just bought a new hammer at a boot sale this morning----copper at one end and rawhide at the other end.
Brian.

Still hammering and in light of the replies to my post I still will be for the time to come!
need a new hammer though, I was given a right orange snap-on hammer (plastic and full of sand) and I seems to have seen better days!
Cheers
Tim

Still pounding away also. I have two, a thor hammer and a steel one with interchangale heads which right now has plastic and rawhide. I keep the thor in the boot as it is a little smaller.

Mike G.

I've been using the original type with no probs (have to put a sheet of cardboard in front of the wheel to prevent the odd bang) I was given a thor type mallet which is much heavier and I used to whale up my spinners with it but to my horror I found that on one of the rear wheels the cone shaped centre of the wheel had a huge crack in it. so bought a new wheel (supposedly better spec than original, material maybe, but construction and finish definitely not). so i'm wondering if I gave the old girls a bit too much of a beasting.

Regards all
Mark

Hi, all -

Now that scared me -- I'll look for cracks in all my wheels when I get home (in two weeks).

My car came to me with "Nader nuts", so I didn't get a hammer with the car and had to improvise somewhat when I retrofitted the three-ear K.O.s.

I have a 4-lb (!) lead hammer which I use and none of 'em have come loose yet. I like Rob LaMoreaux's custom-fabricated socket with cut-outs for the K.O.'s "ears" (used to be posted in the LotusElan List's Photos or Files section -- I looked, but couldn't find it just now). It permits using a torque wrench to get the proper torque on the K.O.s and not have to beat then on. Might be worth a post to Rob to ask him for a pic again.

Best regards,
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:blue'>[FONT=Times]Bob[FONT=Arial]</span></span>
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rawhide rawhide !! <_<

Just to follow up, I use a SnapOn compothane hammer, you can smack the snot out of them and not leave a mark. This is especially important , as I am using aluminum 26R style spinners.

Hi All,

I read somewhere that cracks in the centers and also at the apex of the holes in the rim are an issue. Of course I found this out AFTER I had painted and mounted tires on my rims. It was recommended to me that the wheels should have been properly tested for cracks in those areas. So just make them tight enough so they don't fall off, but not tight enough to crack them!

Mike Geiger